Over the past 5 years I have received several questions relating to the Hatzenbühler book, as well as general genealogy inquiries relative to the book. I have attempted to answer the more common questions here. If you have further questions, please contact me.
1. What got you interested in doing this?
Several things led up to my taking on this project. When I began in 1996 I was simply looking for answers to questions about my own family . . . the Hatzenbeller's. Gradually I discovered over the course of time that my surname was originally Hatzenbühler in Germany. I also knew that my family had settled in the Aberdeen, South Dakota area in 1893. Yet there was a significant number of other families in the United States with the surname Hatzenbuehler or Hatzenbuhler. A prominant one was in the Dickinson and Bismarck, North Dakota region. As I began researching and comparing this family to my own, it became clear to me that the families that settled in the Dakota territories were all related. Over the course of the next few months I found other families who settled in the United States named Hatzenbuehler. The largest being in the Dallas, Texas area. I knew that there were some individuals who had researched each of their own families, and yet, nobody had done a single historical book to connect all of these families. That combined with a love of history led me to the decision to put together a major history and genealogy of the Hatzenbühler's and their descendants.
2. When is the Hatzenbühler book expected to be finished?
This depends quite a bit on several things. Mostly it depends on other people sending their genealogies in to be admitted to the book. Odd as it may seem, many people intend to send their information, but the human condition is to procrastinate. Others are fantastic about getting their genealogies sent within days of finding out about this book project. The second factor involved is archival records. I spend a great deal of my time writing too and corresponding with archives across the world that have information about the Hatzenbühler's. This involves using translators for letters sent to German, Romanian and Russian archives. Some of the East European archives are not tremendously quick although they do send information eventually. I also spend significant time extracting German church and vital records which are written in German, Latin and French. I've grown fairly adept at translating these myself from reading them so often. Yet, there is a great deal of time involved in reading through microfilm. I should point out also that this might very well end up being one of the largest genealogical volumes ever published if we can get everyone involved.
3. What town or villaged did the Hatzenbühler's come from?
This involves a fairly lengthy answer but I will try to sum it up briefly. The family comes from the southwestern region of what is now Germany. It's currently called the Rhineland-Palatinate or in German Rheinland-Pflaz. At times hundreds of years ago it was it's own separate state known under many names . . . Rhenish Palatinate, Bavarian Palatinate or simly the Palatinate. There in the Palatinate is a small village of just over 2000 people today known as Hatzenbühl. From this village our family spread into neighboring villages across the Palatinate . . . most within several miles of Hatzenbühl.
4. Is this all one family?
From the experts I've talked with I can answer that question yes, but it can probably never be proven. There are many reasons to hypothesize that this was one family originally. And there are still many people I am talking to at German universities as we attempt to put the puzzle together.
5. Who will be in this book once it's completed?
Hatzenbuhler's from our past and from today. I've made connections with family in Germany as well as some who have recently left Russia in 1993. This book is not just Hatzenbuhler families in the United States. It covers all of the families across the globe. Believe it or not, we all fit in somewhere. Eventually I do make the connections once I have valid information in my hands. There are genealogies of Hatzenbuhlers in this book from United States, Germany, Romania and Russia. There are also Hatzenbuhler's in Canada, and parts of Western and Eastern Europe I am attempting to contact even today. This is why the book is such an enormous undertaking.
6. Who will be able to purchase the book and how much will it cost?
As to the cost, I can't answer that quite yet. The reason is that it's impossible to get an accurate quote from a publisher until you know exactly how many pages and photos are going into the book. I have been in contact with the Association of Family Historians which has an extensive list of well established family history publishers across the United States. I should also add that the intention of the Hatzenbühler book project is to publish a very high quality book using coated acid free paper. This paper will last for centuries. I have surveyed dozens of people who sent their genealogies asking them if they'd prefer to have me publish this book in a soft cover or hard cover. Hard cover is obviously more expensive, but each person without exception said that hard cover was their preference so they could pass it on to their children. This book will be donated to several important archives as well including the Library of Congress, the National Archives Genealogy Section and several large genealogy libraries. I am also planning on having the book translated into German and published so that our German cousins may have access to this book in their own language. It is also important that this book is donated to several archives in Germany.
7. How will I find myself in the Hatzenbuhler book?
I am putting together a very good index which will list each person and the pages they appear on. Everyone will appear in two genealogy sections of the book without exception. It is very important that people strongly consider using their legal middle names when their information is submitted. The index will have over 5000 Hatzenbühler names and unless you send me your middle name, you might find out that their are quite a few more of us than you originally thought. For instance there are currently 12 Jakob Hatzenbühlers from Germany in the index from 1700-1999. There are currently 6 James Hatzenbuhlers from the United States indexed. And there are 3 Paul Hatzenbuehler's from Texas alone. So using your middle name helps separate each of you in the index.
8. What do you need me to do to get my information included?
Simply contact me with your information. Genealogy information consists of births, deaths and marriages. It also included the cities of births, deaths and marriages. It is important that you do your best to make sure the information is accurate. For instance my dad would be the last person you'd ask about someone's birth date in my family. He'll know the date of the fishing opener each Spring in Minnesota, but he has no idea when his kids were born. We nudge him with reminders every year. Would he be a good source? Probably not. Therefore if you don't know, please locate the person in your family who does know. Please do not guess on a date or place if you do not know. Once the book is published, any errors in the genealogy data you send me will be permanently added to the published book. At that point there is very little anybody can do to change it. Aside from dates try to be as accurate as possible with cities of births, marriages and deaths. My 5 children for instance were born in the Minneapolis area. But only one, my oldest was actually born in the city of Minneapolis. The others were born in suburbs of Minneapolis. Accuracy is important in genealogy. We want our ancestors 100 years from now to be able to pick up this book and know exactly when and where these events occured.
9. How do I handle information involving my ex-spouse?
This is a real common question. For the most part it isn't a problem with most people. But let me be clear about one thing up front. I do not put divorce information into this book. That for the most part is personal information and therefore I do not include it in this book. With that said there are valid reasons to list the ex-marriage without listing the divorce. Two general principles govern the answer to this question. First of all, try to view this as a historical undertaking and nothing more. I myself am divorced and remarried. I have listed both of my marriage dates because it's a part of my family history. If we had a second chance would we have done the same thing? Who can say. But we are attempting to be historians when putting together a book such as this. With that in mind, whether you acknowledge a past marriage or don't, the fact is that it occured, and it's one of those things we strive to document for future generations. Note that I said we document the marriage and not the divorce. The second principle and perhaps the more important of the two involves children and grandchildren. When an ex-spouse is omitted from a book such as this, the child is then seen as descending from just one parent and may ask someday why they're mother or father was left out. Remember, this is only information, and there are hundreds of divorces in every family . . . this one is no exception. In the end however, the decision is yours. Click here to see how your information will appear in the finished book if you've been married more than once. Incidently, I'm using my own information in this example.
10. Will there be a history of my family as well?
There will be a history of each family line as well as the who's and where's. Any history that you are aware of concerning your Hatzenbühler ancestors should be submitted if you'd like it to be added to the narrative history section of the book.
11. What's exactly is included in the Hatzenbühler book?
The book is divided into basically two sections. The first section is a complete history of the family including migrations to other countries, how the wars affected them and the hard times endured as well as the good times. If you have any history involving your Hatzenbühler ancestors I'd be happy to include it. Also there are over 200 photos in the history section. Most of these are old photos of our Hatzenbühler ancestors showing how they appeared. These are the photos everybody is most interested in seeing. Any photos you'd like to submit are welcome. They should be from the 1865-1950 era. Group family shots, old marriage photos, grandparents are all welcome. They only need to be Hatzenbühler descendants. Your name
will be credited under the photo as the submitter. You are also used as the source for all genealogical dates submitted. The second part of the book is the genealogy section. This involves all the necessary dates to put together a genealogy linking you to your past as well
as your descendants.
12. Who can be listed in the Hatzenbühler book?
The descendants of anybody with the surname Hatzenbühler. So if your 4th great grandmother was a Hatzenbühler you are a decendant and can be listed as long as you can make a connection to her. It doesn't matter what your last name is today if you have a Hatzenbühler
in your ancestry. Keep in mind that if you descend from one of the other variations of the Hatzenbühler surname you may also add your information. Some of those names are: Hatzenbühler, Hatzenbuhler, Hatzenbuehler, Hatzenbihler, Hatzenbehler, Hatzenbiler, Hatzenbiller, Hatzenbeler, Hatzenbeller, Hatzenpiller, Hatzenböller, Hotsinpiller, Hotsenpiller, Hotsenpillar, Hotsinpillar, Hatsenpiller, Hudsonpillar, Hutzenbiler, Hasenbuhler, Hasenböhler
may contact me by mail by writing to: Jeffrey Hatzenbeller, 3640 Dunbar Knoll, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA 55443-1971. Finally, if you don't have access to email or you don't like to write please call me at: 763-424-5711.
